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Portman, Fisher focus on economy in US Senate debate in Toledo
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Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher
Associated Press
TOLEDO
The two leading candidates in the race for Ohio’s open U.S. Senate seat agreed Monday night in their first debate that the state’s economy is a mess, but they blamed each other for getting it there.
Democrat Lee Fisher, Ohio’s lieutenant governor, repeatedly pointed out that Republican Rob Portman was budget director and trade ambassador in the Bush administration, saying his policies supporting free trade caused the state to lose jobs to China.
Portman, a former congressman, countered that Fisher oversaw the state’s job development office up until a year ago, during a time when Ohio lost 400,000 jobs.
“Our state has fallen behind the rest of the country,” Portman said. “We’re falling behind and these guys have not done the job.”
Fisher defended his record, casting the blame for Ohio’s job losses on Republicans.
“It’s a national recession brought to you by the policies of George W. Bush and Congressman Portman,” Fisher said.
Ohio has been hit harder by job losses than most other states, and unemployment has been above 10 percent all year. Democrats who swept all but one statewide office four years ago are now facing a backlash over the economy.
Portman and Fisher are competing to succeed retiring Republican George Voinovich. The GOP needs a gain of 10 seats to win control of the U.S. Senate this fall.
Fisher has repeatedly tagged himself as the underdog in the race.
Most polls taken within the last month have shown Portman leading Fisher by double digits. The Republican also has a huge fundraising advantage over Fisher, allowing him to dominate television advertising in the race.
Fisher came out firing at Portman from the first moment of the debate, saying his opponent was a Washington insider who was more concerned with helping bankers on Wall Street.
Portman said Fisher supports higher taxes on small businesses and health-care regulations that are stopping companies from expanding.
Fisher said he wants to end tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas, but he also said he supported trade policies that increase American exports.
Portman accused Fisher of wanting it both ways by opposing trade agreements as a whole.
“We need to support trade,” Portman said. “If we don’t do that, we’re going to be hurting Ohio workers.”
Fisher defended his record as head of Ohio’s economic development department, saying he was proud of his work but not satisfied.
Portman said Fisher’s job creation record has been a failure and would get worse because he supports higher taxes and regulations.
“We should be passing pro-growth measures,” said Portman, a fiscal conservative, who advocates cutting federal spending.
He also accused Fisher of distorting his record several times during the debate.
“He wants to distract us from his record,” said Portman, who has had a lot of experience in debates — at least behind the scenes.
Two years ago during the presidential campaign, he played the role of Barack Obama while helping his friend John McCain get ready for a debate. Portman did the same for George W. Bush and Dick Cheney during debate-prep sessions.
Much of the debate Monday centered on Ohio’s economy, though the candidates did disagree on how they would handle Social Security.
Both said they want to protect it for seniors and for future recipients, but Fisher said his opponent had backed privatizing it.
Portman denied that charge, saying Fisher was simply using scare tactics.
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